KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A three-year-old is hospitalized and prosecutors say a KC mom is in jail because she knew her boyfriend beat him and did nothing about it. FOX 4’s Megan Brilley saw pictures of the boy’s bloody and lip and body covered in bruises, but the mom’s family maintains she’s innocent.
Karen Balazs felt crushed when she saw those pictures of her grandson. She believes Marketa Williams is to blame. He’d been dating her daughter, Amber Zank-Balazs, and they all lived together in an apartment on East 42nd Street. Balazs said he had a bad temper and they were all scared of him, especially her grandson.
“He was petrified of him, absolutely petrified of him,” Balazs said.
She said that anger exploded this past weekend. While she stayed at a friend’s house, Balazs said Amber and Williams went to sleep at the apartment and when her daughter woke up, her son was mangled.
“Black eye, bruises, a fat lip, bruises on his neck. He looked like he’s been picked up like that,” Balazs said.
Fearing for their safety, she said Amber sent a picture message of her bruised son to her best friend, Tiffany Asbury.
“It literally looked like someone hit him as hard as they could,” Asbury said.
Asbury called 911. When police got on scene they arrested Williams and on Tuesday he was charged with child abuse. The child was taken to the hospital.
“He didn’t ask for that. He didn’t do anything wrong,” Asbury said of the child.
According to court documents Williams told prosecutors he didn’t know how the child got injured and said the boy had bruises before he started dating Amber. Even though her daughter is in jail, Balazs is glad someone spoke up before it was too late.
“Probably saved his life,” she said.
Amber was charged with first and second-degree charges of endangering a child. Balazs wasn’t able to visit the child at the hospital and isn’t sure if she’ll ever be able to gain custody.